ICF Freestyle Committee

We are THRILLED to introduce the U23 K1 Class, debuting at the 2027 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championship in Sort, Spain!

The ICF Freestyle Committee has been working hard to make this happen, and we couldn't be more excited. Bringing a dedicated U23 K1 category to the World Championship is a huge step forward for our sport — giving the next wave of athletes their moment on the world's biggest stage and creating a clear pathway from junior to elite competition.

Freestyle kayaking is growing, and the future has never looked brighter.

3 U23 K1 Men + 3 U23 K1 Women per nation
Eligible from January 1st of the year you turn 19 through December 31st of the year you turn 23

To every JR athlete aging up and those to come — this one's for you. Your time is now.

Some moments last forever. Others last a fraction of a second—but define an entire competition.

From emotional medal celebrations to gravity-defying rides, the 2026 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup in Millau delivered it all. Huge scores, unbelievable tricks, dramatic finishes, and moments that had the crowd on its feet. There were simply too many incredible memories to capture in one post, but these photos freeze a handful of the moments that made this World Cup so special.

A huge thank you to for capturing the split-second moments that tell the story of an unforgettable event.

Millau World Cup - Saturday 27th June 2026

The third day of the ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup meet at Millau, France, was quite literally the final day!

The Sq**rt finalists kicked proceedings off, with the Women taking to the water first. The sunshine and clear water really made the spectators appreciate the glittery, colourful boats today!

Ottilie Robinson-Shaw of GB got the job done in just two rides to win yet another ICF gold medal. Valerie Bertrand of Norway won the silver, and Scotland’s Anne Ruyters secured bronze in her very first ICF competition.

The Men were next, and Alex Edwards from GB produced a set of masterful rides to secure another World Cup gold medal to add to his collection. Germany’s Finn Kroessig and Mike Lochny took silver and bronze respectively, with Finn showing real flair in his tricks.

The official ICF program then took a break, with the Masters and then Cadets finals taking place in the main feature. The Masters (all 40+ years) demonstrated their experience, with Valerie Betrand winning the Women’s class, and Thomas Dunphy from Ireland leading the Men’s field. Japanese athletes Kazuya Matsunaga and Akira Nakamura came in second and third.

An enthusiastic crowd was loud in its appreciation for the Cadets final, and it was great to see the young athletes scoring some big tricks and cheering each other on. The youngsters (all under 15) were a mix of local and international paddlers, and have formed firm friendships over the week, as they were coached by an awesome roster of top class international athletes each day.

The winners in the Girls were:
1 Alicia Pedersen (Norway)
2 Coline Kearney (Ireland)
3 Juliette Fayol (France)

And in the Boys:

1. Jack Minchin (Ireland)
2. Quentin Miquel (France)
3. Marius Foret (France)

We then returned to the serious matter of the surface ICF finals, starting with C1W and them C1M.

In C1W, Ottilie Robinson-Shaw was again dominant, but there was a strong battle between the next three athletes to capture silver and bronze, with Zofia Tula of Poland and Anica Schacher of Germany proving to be the victors, over Germany’s Lucia Hacker and Ireland’s Beibhin Butler.

The Men’s C1 was another nail-biter, with less than 300 points splitting the top three athletes. To the delight of the local spectators, France’s Tom Dolle came out on top, with fellow countryman Jean-Yves Moustrou winning bronze. Britain’s Harry Price put in a very composed and stylish performance for the silver medal.

After a short break to catch our breath, the Juniors hit the feature. The Junior Women were really pushing their rides, scoring high and hitting personal bests. After a close-fought contest, American Mary-Claire Hargrove came out on top to win the gold, with Poland’s Maja Kawczynska securing silver and Marie Dimke of Germany earning the bronze.

The Junior Men were up next, and this much anticipated final certainly did not disappoint. The enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowd was in full voice, encouraging these awesome young athletes to go big and push their limits. The tension built, and the final result saw Jake Bermingham of Ireland coming out on top to narrowly win the gold medal, with Spain’s Marc Silva Fores and German Lukas Ramsayer close behind to win silver and bronze respectively.

After a short break, the excitement continued to build with the Senior Women taking to the stage. This again brought the tension, excitement, and some exceptional skills - and the medal places were not certain until the final set of rides, with Poland’s Zofia Tula winning the bronze medal, Leah Hough of Ireland the silver, and Ottilie Robinson-Shaw her third gold of this World Cup.

Finally, the Senior Men entered the gladiatorial arena. After Friday’s exceptionally exciting semi-final, all eyes were on these five men: Q**m Fontane di Maso of Spain, Tomasz Czaplicki of Poland, Harry Price and Ben Higson of GB, and Tom Dierick of Belgium. The packed stadium played its part in building the atmosphere and pushing these incredible athletes to their limits. As for the Senior Women, the medals were not decided until the very last ride of the competition. Tomasz led through the first two rides, but then Harry had an epic ride of over 1700 points. It looked like he had secured the gold until his fellow countryman Ben took to the stage. Ben threw down an incredible ride, full of linked tricks and bonuses, to score over 1800 points and take gold.

We thank Lucien Schreiber and his Team for putting on an incredible event, along with all his volunteer crew. We also thank our Chief Judge, Gregory Didier, and the rest of the judging team and scribes, who certainly had their work cut out! And thank to the ICF Canoe Freestyle Technical Committee and ICF staff for their hard work.

Bring on Krakow World Cup in September!

Photos by

The day kicked off with the Cadet competition, where paddlers under 15 from across the globe came together as part of the Millau Freestyle Festival. The stoke was high as the next generation of freestyle talent showcased their skills, supported each other and proved that the future of our sport is incredibly bright.

The C1 Men’s and Women’s Finals then took centre stage, delivering an unforgettable show. Huge loops, massive aerial moves and incredible technical rides had the crowd cheering throughout the session. Every athlete pushed the limits, making for one of the most exciting finals of the World Cup so far.

Another epic day in Millau, with world-class freestyle, an incredible atmosphere and plenty more action still to come.

photos by

*Saturday Schedule*
11.20am - Masters final
13.45pm - Cadets final

15.15pm - C1W Final
15.45pm - C1M Final
16.40pm - K1WJ Final
17.10pm - K1MJ Final
18.05pm - K1W Final
18.45pm - K1M Final

19.45pm - C1 and K1 Medal Ceremonies

Planet Canoe YouTube for all the action.

Live results

icf.conersyslive.es 2026 ICF CANOE FREESTYLE WORLD CUP MILLAU, FRANCE Event Schedule TIMELINE FILTERS Collapse Live Official25 JUN 09:00 Women's Kayak Surface Junior Semi-Final 1/2 OFFICIAL09:25 Women's Kayak Surface Junior Semi-Final 2/2 OFFICIAL10:10 Women's Kayak Surface Preliminary 1/4 OFFICIAL10:30 Women's Kayak S...

🏆 FINALS DAY IS HERE! 🏆

Watch the 2026 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup Finals live from Millau, France! 🌊🔥

📺 Watch LIVE
Planet Canoe YouTube:
https://youtube.com/

📊 Live Results
https://icf.conersyslive.es/event/99300

🗓️ Today’s Schedule — Local Time

09:00 – Sq**rt Women Final
09:40 – Sq**rt Men Final
10:40 – Sq**rt Medals

11:20 – Masters Women and Men’s Final
12:25 – Masters Medals

13:45 – Cadets Finals

15:15 – C1 Women Final
15:45 – C1 Men Final

16:40 – Junior Women K1 Final
17:10 – Junior Men K1 Final

18:05 – Women K1 Final
18:45 – Men K1 Final

19:45 – Junior K1 Medals
20:05 – C1 Medals
20:25 – K1 Medals
20:45 – Closing Ceremony

Tune in and don’t miss the world’s best battling for World Cup gold! 🔥

icf.conersyslive.es 2026 ICF CANOE FREESTYLE WORLD CUP MILLAU, FRANCE Event Schedule TIMELINE FILTERS Collapse Live Official25 JUN 09:00 Women's Kayak Surface Junior Semi-Final 1/2 OFFICIAL09:25 Women's Kayak Surface Junior Semi-Final 2/2 OFFICIAL10:10 Women's Kayak Surface Preliminary 1/4 OFFICIAL10:30 Women's Kayak S...

Day two was, in a word, epic!

The day kicked off in relaxed style lower down the course with the Sq**rt Semi-finals. Ottilie Robinson-Shaw, as exoected, dominated the field, but her fellow competitors, Norway’s Valerie Bertrand and GB’s Anne Ruyters both did themselves proud to finish in that order after Ottilie.

The Men’s Sq**rt Semi-Final was a closer fought contest, but GB’s Alex Edwards displayed his quality to take the win. Germany’s Finn Kroessig, however, provided a strong battle to take the runner-up spot.

We returned to the main feature for the Women’s C1 Semi-Final, having taken an unexpected break due to the expected OC1 competitors withdrawing from the category. The cadets - an unofficial but well supported event - took full advantage of the unexpected access to the wave! Ottilie Robinson-Shaw dominated the C1W field, scoring a remarkable 2070 points over two runs, but the rest of the field were more closely clustered, with Lucia, Anita, Zofia and Beibhin joining Ottilie in Saturday’s final.

As a side note, Ottilie’s score in C1 would have seen her qualifying for the C1M final in first place - a remarkable achievement.

Speaking of which, C1M brought us a close battle between the two French international medallists Tom Dolle and Jean-Yves Moustrou, with the younger athlete winning the day. It is good to note that two junior athletes were participating and gave excellent performances - C1M is in good hands for the future with Noah from Norway and Luke from Ireland.

We then moved on to the K1MJ contest. This was indeed a formidable and exciting battle, with a bit of an unexpected result which was somewhat against recent international results. Lucas Ramsayer of Germany held his nerve to take the win, with an excellent performance from Canada’s Daniel Meisenheimer to come in second. The rest of the field was close, but Jake, Marc and Arthur came out on top, making up the rest of the Finals start card.

Next up were the Senior K1W. Ottilie Robinson-Shaw, in her third discipline of the day, and in a dominant and assured performance, was almost double the points of her closest rival, Poland’s Agatha Sobieraj-Jakubiec. Zodiac, Makinley Kate, and Leah join Ottilie and Agatha in Saturday afternoon’s final.

The final (official) event of the day was Senior K1M. The new format this year certainly seemed to fire up the crowd - “three runs, best two to count” - and saw the top five moving on to Saturday’s finals. The event was dramatic, with all fifteen athletes trying to throw down their very best rides. The atmosphere was truly electric.

The French paddlers were well supported by the partisan local spectators, but unfortunately not one made it into the final five. Former World Champion, Q**m Fontane was top dog, but all five finalists were within 300 points of Q**m. The drama continued to the last few seconds of the category, where local hero Tom Dolle needed 1400 points to achieve a finals slot, and push out Tom Dierick from the top five. Sadly, the French Tom could not quite reach the score of Belgium’s Tom Dierick. The other finalists were Tomasz Czaplicki (Poland) and Harry Price and Ben Higson from GB, the latter securing the single highest score of any ride thus far at Millau.

The noisy crowd seemed to enjoy the evening’s competition, which finished with another round of The Big Air Ramp. This definitely holds no attraction for your author, however the young guns were queuing up all evening, for a first or even third go.

So we move onto Saturday - Finals Day. Let’s trust we get similar levels of commitment, skill and artistry from all our finalists, giving us a day to live long in the memory,